Messi’s Copa miss brings Argentine Whitecap Laba to tears

Vancouver Whitecaps' Matias Laba was brought to tears by his home country Argentina's loss to Chile in the Copa final.Photo by
DARRYL DYCK

If you wanted a window into how deeply some soccer players feel about their national teams, you just had to see Matias Laba arrive at Whitecaps practice Monday.

The Argentine defensive midfielder couldn’t hide his disappointment with Sunday’s loss to Chile on penalties in the Copa America Centenario final in New Jersey. He said he was brought to tears in the aftermath of Lionel Messi’s penalty miss and Francisco Silva’s winning kick for Chile, who repeated as Copa champions.

Good luck convincing Laba this special-edition tournament was nothing more than a cash grab.

“I cried because I’m thinking how they feel,” said Laba, who played U20s for Argentina. “I feel sad for the players because they deserve something with the national team. It’s not normal to get to three finals — the World Cup and two Copas — and not to win something. I think this group is amazing.

“They have everything in their life, in their (club) careers, but to lose three finals with the national team is the most tough.”

Pedro Morales, the Caps’ captain, had strolled up to the training centre at UBC chanting “Chile! Chile!” as players were giving interviews but, contrary to what you might expect, he wasn’t bragging to Laba.

“He knows our feeling,” said Laba. “He knows how soccer is for us and how we live soccer.”

Now the Caps’ defensive dynamo has to focus on his own championship aspirations. Vancouver hosts Toronto FC in the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship on Wednesday at B.C. Place (7 p.m., TSN, TSN 1040).

Toronto leads 1-0 through Sebastian Giovinco’s goal at BMO Field last Tuesday. And with away goals as the first tie-breaker, the Caps have no room for error. If Toronto scores at the Dome, then Vancouver will need three in regular time to claim the Voyageurs Cup and Canada’s berth in the 2017-18 CONCACAF Champions League.

The Caps managed to come back from a 2-0 first-leg deficit against the Ottawa Fury in the semifinals but Toronto will be a far tougher task.

“It’s a difficult situation, but we have confidence because we are at home and we won three points in Philadelphia (on Saturday) that wasn’t easy. We believe we can do it but it will be very tough.”

Laba didn’t play the first leg. Coach Carl Robinson went with Russell Teibert and Vancouverite Ben McKendry in defensive midfield and both did a good job in their own half.

The expected lineup for the second leg will be Laba with Teibert, unless Robinson is keen to play Morales deeper.

Assistant coach Gordon Forrest handled media duties Monday and suggested that 15-year-old Alphonso Davies could again be part of the game-day roster, if not part of the starting lineup.

“Alphonso’s in the mix,” he said. “I thought he’s done great (in the Canadian championship). He’ll train with the team (Monday) and we’ll see how he gets on in the next couple of days.”

Paolo Tornaghi, who was buzzing from Italy’s Euro win over Spain Monday, is expected to again get the call in goal, while Robinson’s decision up front will be intriguing.

Octavio Rivero is headed to Colo-Colo in Chile once the transfer window opens July 4, although he was at practice Monday, and Forrest claimed the Uruguayan was available for selection Wednesday.

Forrest and Laba both said the Rivero reports won’t be a distraction this week.

“We know the rumours,” said Laba. “I don’t know if it’s official or not, but I think if it’s good for the club and for Octavio it’s OK.”

Robinson will have Erik Hurtado and Blas Perez to choose from up top, while Laba will have to spend considerable energy trying to silence Giovinco, who had a quiet first half in Toronto and still managed to score the winner.

“He’s a very good player and most important for them,” said Laba. “We have to be like Chile was with Messi. One player goes (to challenge) and another is waiting. And we have to be in a good shape.”

As for Argentina’s star, Laba isn’t convinced that Messi is done with international soccer, as he claimed after Sunday’s defeat.

“I think it’s emotional,” Laba said of Messi’s comments. “But I think he needs someone to talk with him from AFA (the Argentine Football Association). With Messi, they can win the next World Cup.

“This is a bad moment, but from bad moments you can make history.”

On a much smaller scale, the Caps are trying to do just that in Wednesday’s second leg.

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